Knowns & Unknowns
One of the most disconcerting aspects of living through a pandemic is the assortment of unknowns we face on a daily basis.
How many infected? How many dead? Transmission rate? Spikes, plateaus, curves?
How many actually infected and killed by this disease, in true numbers, rather than what we’re able to measure with our imperfect systems and data?
When will we be able to go out in public on a regular basis again, without first wrapping ourselves in protective layers?
When will be able to shake hands again, hug again, participate in physical shared social experiences again?
It’s difficult to say. And it’s likely that even the most informed among us don’t know, because this isn’t a matter of the information being available to some but not to all, it’s a matter of wildly incomplete information that is in constant flux, shifting day to day with the legal measures implemented and the behaviors of individuals at all levels—from the halls of our governments to the homes of our friends and family.
Also difficult to cope with, in a very different way, are the countless new and uncomfortable understandings and realities that can emerge under these sorts of circumstances.
Many of us are finding ourselves playing a role in an ostensibly historical moment, and perhaps not performing as we always suspected or hoped we might under such conditions and with the stakes this high.
We’re also being forced to sit with ourselves and our loved ones for stretches of time, in some cases for longer durations than ever before, and there are pros and cons to the torrent of knowledge that can stem from such forced, all-at-once engagement and revelation.
For some, this might lead to a change in dynamic between ourselves and our loved ones: probably for the better, in most cases, at least in the long-term. But the pressure-cooker encompassment can be too much for some relationships to survive, as was illustrated by the surge of divorces in China as stay-at-home rules were loosened.
This lockdown may force more of us to spend time with our own thoughts, behaviors, and needs, too, helping us face uncomfortable facets of ourselves and explore previously under-examined internal territory: often to our immediate discomfort but lifelong benefit.
There are people around the world who are truly suffering right now, through medical, psychological, and economic hardships. There are people who are being asked to maintain the connective tissue of society while the rest of us shelter in place, and for these people, this pandemic represents trauma of a very present and tangible variety.
For those of us who are not providing vital services like medical aid, stocking grocery store shelves, or delivering mail, though, it’s possible for this moment to become a vague, blurry procession of days, spiked with panicky adrenaline surges and mellowed by depressive lows, but otherwise defined by the ever-present sense of knowing too much or too little.
Recognizing the unknowns as being temporary can help, as can providing assistance to those who are uncovering and sharing knowledge, and those who’re keeping all of us in good health in the meantime: charities, public health organizations, and local news entities, for instance.
It can also help to recognize that getting to know ourselves and our relationships more thoroughly is a gift, if we choose to see it that way. This knowledge can help us reassess our priorities, make appropriate changes to our habits and goals, and adjust our interpersonal dynamics: honing our communication skills, having deep (and perhaps, difficult) conversations, and eventually, arriving at a better understanding of who we are individually, and who we are in the context of the partnerships and groups of which we’re a part.
From a trip to Banff in Canada, several years ago.
Updates
I’m now publishing two essays and two podcast episodes for Brain Lenses each week, and I’m very much enjoying the challenge of tackling these sorts of topics on such a regular basis.
One each of these essays and podcast episodes are available free every Tuesday, and the extra essay and episode (published on Thursdays) are bonuses for supporters—and you can become a free subscriber and/or paid supporter at BrainLenses.com, if you’re interested.
This week’s episode of Let’s Know Things is about pandemic-era power grabs and the sunset provisions that are meant to keep them from happening.
I’ve decided to stop publishing Ask Colin columns on a weekly basis so I can refocus that time and attention on other projects (like those mentioned above).
It’s been a lot of fun formalizing question-answering in this way, but I think I’ve accomplished what I wanted to accomplish with the column for the time being. I’ll still post new columns on an irregular basis, though, and I’ll still answer any questions emailed to me, privately—so if you have something on your mind, don’t hesitate to drop me a line.
Community Stories
I’m fortunate to have folks from around the world reading and listening to my work, and one of the main benefits of doing what I do for a living is that I receive emails from some of the people who do that reading and listening.
This section is an attempt to share some of those vicarious experiences with you, as well.
Note: Everyone here has given permission for their words to be shared in this way, and the messages are lightly edited for typos and to remove personal information or messages to me.
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Dear Colin,
The world seems to be preoccupied with a lot these days, so on a simpler note, I just wanted to start of by wishing you a happy birthday, and any fellow Aries out there, including me (April 15) and anyone who has had or will be having there birthday this month. I'm not really that acquainted with a lot of Aries in my life, so for any Aries reading this, hi! 😉 I think at difficult times as these, celebrating life might prove not to be a bad thing after all.
One thing I have learned is that staying at home, which has proven to be challenging in the beginning, (even for someone who usually spends most of her time at home or in the garden) is actually starting to grow on me. It just made me realize how silly we are as humans, don't get this wrong, but I consider myself not easily influenced by the society I'm living in, yet I still found myself reflecting on the meaningless things I found myself seeking or the habits I've built up on a daily basis. So, this slowdown has proven to be beneficial for our souls after all, to sift through what we've accumulated through these past years, which we might've not been aware of, up until this point.
I hope you are doing well and wishing you the best of luck in your life, podcast and all that you share with us in the newsletter, it really means a lot.
Warm regards,
Noora
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Hi Colin,
I hope this email finds you both well and socially distanced :)
I very much like the way you have expanded this newsletter. I find myself anticipating its arrival each week and I enjoy the rhythm between the sections. The Community Stories have proven to be my favorite part. I participated in the chat you held a few weeks back, and I think individuals' stories of their experiences around the world were my favorite part of it. Of course here they are easier to digest (without several people talking simultaneously on diff threads) and far more in depth. As always, I am grateful for the interesting work you do.
When I've written you in the past (I believe twice?) it's always been with a specific question, but today I figured I would pass on a "dato" as is said in Spanish, about A Really Cool Thing that is new to me. It's likely you're aware of it, but have you heard of MIT OpenCourseWare? Colin, the freely available knowledge is absolutely astonishing. I found it in my quest for a high quality, free economics course, but with a bit of poking around I couldn't believe the resource I had stumbled upon. From what I've seen, it appears that if one had the time and the discipline, he/she/they could complete an entire undergraduate education for free. I haven't even begun to dig into the graduate courses available. The courses are set up with all of the work, materials, lectures, and readings from the originals. In my Intro to Microeconomics course they even attempt to simulate recitations!
Main course page here: https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/
Most visited courses each month here: https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/most-visited-courses/
MIT doesn't offer any sort of certifications of completion or the like, in their own words "Knowledge is your reward," which brings up a whole other set of questions around the marginal value of a $200,000 USD+ BS/BA degree. I chose Intro to Microeconomics because one of my regrets from my university days was choosing to do a BS in the natural science and a BA in the humanities left me never having taken a Sociology, Anthropology, or Economics course. No longer! I've only completed unit 1, but it already helped me understand your Brain Lenses article on The Diamond-Water paradox. I'm planning on coming back to it later when I am more "economically literate," so to speak :D.
Anyway, I certainly wasn't planning on going on for this long, but here we are. Besides learning more about economics I've been very fortunate during this pandemic to not have (as many) changes in my life. I am child free and already worked remotely, so my life has not been turned upside down in the way that those of many of my friends and loved ones have been. I've been (slowly, haltingly) starting work on a personal project around empowering those who don't know how to best use their strengths in the world and feel driven to "make a difference" or "do good" but don't know what that looks like for them. I've designed a fair bit of secondary school curriculum so writing a course is old hat, but creating one's own web presence, finding one's audience, etc, etc? I am wholly out of my depth. I am trying to embrace this from the lens of "yay new things to learn!" and "a fun pandemic project" instead of "if it can't be perfect immediately why bother" and "you are zero percent qualified to do any of this." The results vary by day ;).
Best,
Christine
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Hi Colin,
Thank you so much for your newsletter.
I’ve been following for years, and I must say that for me this pandemic has been the best opportunity I have ever had to get my new life started.
All the crappy jobs I had I was let go from which was amazing. Then I started to learn how to build content online. Yay! Released my first newsletter 2 days ago and had traffic already go to Mindset Brain Gym where I work in Toronto for my breath and meditation classes.
I recently became a Wim Hof instructor here in Canada, and although things started to really build, I know I will find a way to rebuild it later. I’m confident that somehow the solutions will come to me.
How do I know? I was homeless 2 years ago, and 12 months later I completely put my life back together and made it better than ever. Yes there were immense “life scars” that came with that, but I’m alive and I made it.
I’m getting back to working out, I wake up at 7am now instead of 4:45 am, and life is great.
Thanks again for posting those letters. Truly a gift for today. 👍🏼
Marie Bodine
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If you'd like to share something about your pandemic project and/or personal experiences, send me an email.
These messages are such a pleasure to receive, and even if you just want to say hi, please feel free to reach out.
Interesting & Useful
Some neat things worth checking out:
The view from my balcony when I was living in Mayoyao in the Philippines.
Outro
A massive THANK YOU to everyone who’s out in public, working and sustaining and keeping the rest of us afloat with your efforts, and for the significant risks you’re taking as you do so.
Many of us homebound folk are looking forward to getting back out into the world with no small amount of intensity, but you’re the reason that world will still be functional and welcoming when we’re able to leave our homes, and you’re the reason the bits of society that continue to work are working, despite all the shut-downs and stasis.
So thank you very much for everything. What you’re doing is meaningful and appreciated.
My family and I are all hunkered down in our respective homes, scattered around the US. We’ve been playing a lot of games, using the internet as an intermediary, cobbling together complex arrangements of webcams on our various devices so we can all see each other’s faces, boards, cards, and everything else—somehow making it work most of the time, enjoying the ridiculousness of the setup as much as the game itself.
It’s my birthday tomorrow: I’ll be 35.
My lifestyle is unusual enough that I don’t have a typical routine or any expectations for what the day will hold, but I suspect it’ll align with what’s become the normal pandemic-lockdown script of learning, writing, recording some audio, playing some guitar, and hanging out with the parents.
I feel very fortunate :)
How’re you and yours faring? What’s work like for you at the moment, and how has it changed in the past few months?
I respond to every email I receive, so feel free to drop me a line and tell me about whatever’s on your mind.
You can also say howdy on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or deep sea bioluminescence.
If you’re finding some value in what I’m doing here, you can support my work by becoming a patron, buying a book, or becoming a paid supporter of Let’s Know Things or Brain Lenses. You can also buy me a coffee if you’re keen.
This guide to virtual gallery tours is a pretty good overview of where these (fun and useful, but imperfect) resources are at, right now.